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The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a US government body, has announced an assistance of $3.6 million to India to help support its fight against the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“This initial tranche of funding will seek to strengthen further and support the Government of India’s efforts to increase laboratory capacity for SARS-COV-2 testing, including molecular diagnostics and serology,” according to an official release issued by the US Embassy in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The funds will also be used to support the development of Infection Prevention and Control centres of excellence that can improve the ability of hospital networks to detect Covid-19 and strengthen local health systems through enhanced surveillance and monitoring systems.
The assistance of local partners will be sought by CDC to work together in the development of a strong public health workforce to support India’s capacity to respond not only to this pandemic but to future threats as well. The scope of support will include planning for health emergency operations centres to strengthen public health emergency management capacities further.
The CDC India program will also provide technical assistance for India’s ongoing crisis emergency and risk communication efforts, the release said.
Since early January, the CDC’s India Office has been collaborating with sub-national and national government institutes to support the Covid-19 response in India. “Collaboration efforts are focused on lab strengthening, infection prevention and control, health workforce development, emergency management, risk communication, and community engagement,” the release said.
The CDC has conducted trainings across India for healthcare administrators, physicians, nurses, and hospital staff on preparedness and response, infection prevention and control, laboratory operations, and field epidemiology to equip frontline response workers with the necessary skills to collect, analyse, and interpret data, and contribute to evidence-based decisions, it added.
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